“Game 3 is our season,” Harden said. “If we don’t win that one, it will be really hard to get a win in Game 4.”

“It’s basketball – making shots,” Harden said before moving onto the next question.

But when his media session in the Rockets opulent locker room ended, Harden went back at the reporter, asking if he had ever seen a player not play well before. The reporter answered that the struggle seemed unusual for Harden and was coming on a major stage, the playoffs.

The two went back and forth for a while, with Harden asking the reporter if he’d ever seen a basketball game before, then demanding to know whom the reporter was. The exchange got testy enough that team officials stepped in to usher Harden out.

As he left the room, Harden called the reporter “weirdo.”

Harden added that Houston needs to re-gain their mojo, which leads to open three-pointers and easy buckets in transition.